Kansas Oil and Gas Fields
In the clips above from oral history interviews of John O. Farmer III and Roger McCoy, two Kansas oilmen who have been involved in the industry for many years, we hear about the parts of the state where the industry was booming in the 1950s and 1960s. Oil and gas resources are not found everywhere in the state, but at least some production has occurred in most counties, as the map here shows. In general, oil and gas exploration moved from east to west across Kansas as described in an early history.
John O. Farmer III whose company is located in Russell described in his interview the days when his father and oilmen of that generation were able to find oil because, “they had a nose for it.” Most of his company’s production has been in the area around Russell. The Kansas Geological Survey published a history of that area in 1991.
Roger McCoy described becoming interested in geology almost by accident in the 1950s. In his interview he recalled working in the southcentral and southwest part of Kansas where both oil and gas are found.
As this chart shows, the middle of the last century was the peak of oil production in the state with the peak of gas production coming somewhat later.
These two clips and the full interviews of Farmer and McCoy located on this website in the Energy & Environment collection are replete with terms used to describe geologic structures and rock strata. Helpful maps and descriptions of the strata can be found at this page on the Kansas Geological Survey’s website.
Questions to Explore
- What factors may have played a part in the east-to-west progression of oil and gas exploration in Kansas? Are there factors that have contributed to a change in that progression?
- Why is oil and gas found primarily in the southern and western regions of the state?
- Do changes in county population in Russell, Ellis, Barber, and Harper counties correlate with historic oil and gas production trends? What might account for a correlation or lack thereof.
Additional Resources
- Baars, D.L., Watney, W. L., Steeples, D. W., & Brostuen, E. A. (1989, rev. 1993, posted online 2001). Petroleum: a primer for Kansas (Educational Series 7). Kansas Geological Survey, Lawrence.
- Carr, Tim and Swain, Robert S. (1997). Hugoton Natural Gas Area of Kansas. (Public Information Circular 5). Kansas Geological Survey, Lawrence
- Merriam, Daniel F. and Goebel, Edwin D. (1954).The Geology of the Norton Oil Field, Norton County, Kansas. (Bulletin 109, pt. 9). Kansas Geological Survey, Lawrence. https://www.kgs.ku.edu/Publications/Bulletins/109_9/Bull109_9.pdf
- Walters, Robert F. (1991). Gorham Oil Field, Russell County, Kansas. (Kansas Geological Survey Bulletin 228). Kansas Geological Survey, Lawrence. “History”.
- “Spivey-Grabs field”
Oil and gas resources are not found everywhere in the state, but at least some production has occurred in most counties, as the map here shows. John O. Farmer III whose company is located in Russell described in his 2023 interview his company's exploration and production activities in the area around Russell. When Roger McCoy was interviewed in 2024 for the oral history project, he described becoming interested in geology almost by accident in the 1950s. He also recalled working in the southcentral and southwest part of Kansas where both oil and gas are found.